Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I welcome you, Mr. Anderson, to our meeting.
We, too, have noted the continuous closure of rural post offices, despite the moratorium that you referenced in your opening remarks, which, I think, underpins one of the compelling reasons for undertaking this study. I represent a very large rural riding in Saskatchewan, and this is an issue that I'm well aware of. I have many constituents as well as many community leaders who are deeply concerned about the loss of their post office.
Not that I haven't heard about postal banking and the potential of it before, but I am intrigued by your presentation. If Canada Post were to take on the responsibility of postal banking, would every post office that exists in rural Canada and maybe even in urban Canada need the facilities to operate a bank and to operate as a bank? Is that one of your suggestions?
I guess, knowing the infrastructure deficit we have in rural Canada when it comes to post offices and now even retail outlets, it would seem that constructing the infrastructure needed to operate as a bank, such as vaults or teller desks, might be untenable for many communities. Could you address that issue as well?